The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-07-06
Tho Great Hermann.

The London Standard, of June -, an
nounces the death at Carlsbad of Herr
mann, the Wizard and says of him:
HE had visited and performed in almost
every city oi..Christendom and to the many
fortunes which he made and lost almost
every race knows to civilization had con-
tributed. he was, moreover, an antigua
risn and an artist, and spent the leisure of
his life of wandering in accommodating
hcusefuls OF costly ware, arms, utensils,
sculpture and chronological curiosities;
But Hermann was not only P6pdiat
favorite; he was a welcomed visitor at
the Courts Of Kings. The late Gear gave
him crosses OF knighthood and large sums
for his entertainments, and the Sultan Abb
dull ASST was never quite sure whether to
regard him as mighty Jim or ehevaller
d'industIIe who had best be kept at dis
lance from honest mems pockets. In many
respects his skill has never been surpassed,
aud IS he died without revealing his Sc
crels they ere always likely to remain q
mystery. unless, indeed, his inteenndsd me-
moirs are ready tes the printer. He was
the most adr0is Of pickpockets-aII IN the
way Of business. But though it is easy TO
understand how he distracted the Sultan's
watch from the imperial fob, it has never
yet been explained how he contrived to re-
place il after the timepiece had been tossed
into the sea- The solution of the problem
has been sought for IN the supposition
that the watch thrown into the Bosphorus
was duplicate of the one in his Maiesty's
pocket. This is simple. But NJ. Hermann,
who, though ne chose to keep his own
counsel, was by no means lacking in frank
ness invariably declared that this was entire.
~ untrue. Nevertheless he did not repeat
the experiment. 1t did not pay except
with Oriental monarchs. He would take
two pigeons, one with a black and the
other with white poll, and, to all appear
ances make them exchange heads, and
often amused the restaurateur who was
carrying plate of rolls, with the discov-
cry; before he bad crossed the floor, that
he had only walnuts to place before his
customer. The tricks have never been ex-
scily reproduced, though Chslons, Robert
Houdip, Stodare and others have equalled
them, and the Ingenious gentlemen who
for so many years nave amused ana mysti-
fed London constantly perform others
scarcely less remarkable.
Hermann was, however, perhaps the
greatest of race of conjurers now all but
passed away. He was sleight-of-hand
performer. His art was almost wholly that
of legsrdemain, and he could quite as
easily transfer g three.penny piece to the
center of q pear on the luncheon table, as
he could, with all the appliances of his art
ABOUT him, on pubic PLATFORM. QUICK
ness of an unequalied character, ingenuity
in divertlDg attention from his manipula-
tions, and a remarkable faculty for con-
cealment, were what gave him his chief
dexterity. The inexhaustible hat was in
his hands even more inexhaustible than us
ual, and the globes of goldfish which con-
jurers are won't to produce from under
cloth were in Herrmanns perform
snces even larger and more numerous than
ordinary. 1t is claimed that he and Rob-
ert Houdin elevated white magic from the
level of white jugglery TO the rank of a
science. This is TO a certain extent true.
They almost for the first time did their
tricks in the open, scorniug the magician's
robes and fur-embroidered cap, though
even in plain evening dress the modern
coDjurer has never yet been able to dIpense
with his mystic wand. Hermann loved
dearly to envelop himself in mystery. He
spoke all languages-but all with foreign
accent-and to the day of his death no man
quite knew what was his nationality"